Why farm chickens in our yards?

Farm chickens in your yard can keep your garden healthy and your food costs manageable. A young urban California farmer shows successful chicken farming at its best.
Chicken farming in your urban area should be available to everyone. In Los Angeles, chicken farming is allowed for those with a minimum of about 1/3 acre of land. New York City is much less restrictive, but even so, for those of us who travel a bit, tending farm animals can be a challenge. Enter the concept of community farming that allows just about everyone to participate in raising chickens.

According to RodalesOrganicLife there are many benefits to backyard chicken raising:
• Landfill costs are significantly lower because chickens eat scraps that won’t add to urban waste. It’s been estimated that for every 2,000 households raising three hens each, as much as 252 tons of waste can be trimmed from landfills.
• Most of us like to keep our backyards free of pesky insect like ticks, flies and mosquitoes. Chickens love to eat nutrient-rich insects and weeds. They can help to keep your backyard pest free.
• Chickens keep your garden healthy by fertilizing your soil and tilling it to a depth of six inches. Some farmers move their coops around to best enhance all their garden’s soil.
• Chickens make adorable pet therapists for urban farmers of any age. Try giving a chicken a hug to see why.
• Urban NY City backyard and rooftop farmers highly recommend raising chickens.

With so many city farmers enjoying chicken farming, let’s make some goals:
Allow backyard chickens. It happens in California, New York City and Providence, RI – why not here?
Let’s begin our own Herkimer Village Community Garden. Many bigger cities like New York and Boston have community gardens. With so much land available in Herkimer, let’s start our own community gardens right away. We should be able to get some funding from the Department of Agriculture and if that’s not enough, we can try crowd funding.
Let’s make Herkimer, New York a real winner in urban farming development. Let’s start with Herkimer Village.

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This blog is my perspective on dwelling in our small village nestled among beautiful forests, farms and open landscapes. Educated in Israel and the US, I have an MS in Computer Science. My viewpoint has been shaped by world travel, friends and benefactors both strangers and people I know.
Linda Kaidan
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